UK oil & gas companies upbeat for short-term growth

The British oil and gas industry is looking to the future with increasing optimism, results from a new survey, commissioned by Bank of Scotland and conducted by BDRC Continental, suggest. Over the next two years UK oil and gas companies anticipate that they will create as many as 39,000 new jobs. This is a more positive projection than last year's estimate for 34,000 new recruits, according to BBC News.

The positive sentiment in the industry is reinforced by the finding that 69 percent of the 100 companies surveyed were optimistic about their growth prospects over the course of this year. With the bulk of the industry concentrated in the area around Aberdeen and the northeast, Scotland is set to benefit the most from the positive outlook.

International expansion was said to be a priority for 64 percent of the companies involved in the survey and almost half will focus on international expansion in 2014/2015. This is not a new trend, as approximately 44 percent of revenue in the British oil and gas industry already comes from abroad, explained Stuart White, Bank of Scotland commercial area director.

Like their counterparts across the Atlantic, many oil and gas industry representatives in the UK believe that labor force shortages might be an obstacle to realizing their full potential. According to White this problem needs to be urgently addressed, with the launch of new specialist apprenticeship schemes seen as one option.